Optical module

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses an optical module including a circuit board and a light-emitting assembly. In the light-emitting assembly, a wavelength tuning mechanism is formed of a semiconductor optical amplification chip, a silicon optical chip and a semiconductor refrigerator. The semiconductor optical amplification chip may provide a plurality of wavelengths, and a wavelength selection is carried out by an optical filter in the silicon optical chip; a temperature adjustment for the optical filter is achieved by the semiconductor refrigerator, so as to further adjust a performance of the filter for wavelength selection. The above device is provided in a housing to facilitate packaging of the devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An optical module, comprising:
 a circuit board;   a light-emitting assembly, which is electrically connected to the circuit board through a flexible circuit board for emitting signal light;   wherein the light-emitting assembly comprises:
 a housing, a side wall of which is provided with a notch through which the flexible circuit board is electrically connected to an interior of the housing; 
 a metallized ceramic provided at the notch of the housing, one end of which is located outside the housing and pins are provided on an outer wall of the metallized ceramic, with the flexible circuit board being electrically connected with the pins; another end of the metallized ceramic is located inside the housing and is provided with a pad electrically connected with the pins; 
 a semiconductor refrigerator provided on a bottom surface of the housing for temperature adjustment; 
 a transfer ceramic board arranged on the semiconductor refrigerator, with one end of the transfer ceramic board being electrically connected to the pad; 
 a silicon optical chip provided on a surface of the semiconductor refrigerator and being electrically connected to the pad, which may perform light modulation to generate a signal light, wherein the silicon optical chip comprises a filter, a light inputting port and a light outputting port, and light inside the silicon optical chip passes through the filter, wherein the light inputting port is arranged at a first angle with respect to a horizontal plane; and 
 a semiconductor optical amplification chip provided on the surface of the semiconductor refrigerator and farther away from the pad with respect to the silicon optical chip, wherein the semiconductor optical amplification chip is electrically connected to another end of the transfer ceramic board, wherein light of multiple wavelengths emitted by the semiconductor optical amplification chip can propagate into the silicon optical chip through the light inputting port, wherein an emitting end surface of the semiconductor optical amplification chip is also arranged at the first angle with respect to the horizontal plane; and 
 a converging lens configured for converging light emitted from the light outputting port of the silicon optical chip. 
   
     
     
         2 . The optical module according to  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting assembly further comprises:
 a coupling lens provided between the semiconductor optical amplification chip and the silicon optical chip, which is capable of coupling light from the semiconductor optical amplification chip into the light inputting port of the silicon optical chip;   a collimating lens provided between the silicon optical chip and the converging lens, which is capable of collimating the light emitted from the light outputting port of the silicon optical chip into collimated light;   an isolator provided between the collimating lens and the converging lens, wherein only light in one single direction may pass through said isolator; and   an optical fiber adapter provided on the housing, which is capable of receiving light from the converging lens.   
     
     
         3 . The optical module according to  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting assembly further comprises:
 a substrate provided at the notch of the housing, wherein the flexible circuit board is mounted on the substrate with one end thereof protruding into the housing through the notch.   
     
     
         4 . The optical module according to  claim 1 , wherein a heat sink is provided between the semiconductor optical amplification chip and the semiconductor refrigerator, and a thermistor is provided on the heat sink. 
     
     
         5 . The optical module according to  claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a main housing, an upper cover plate and a bottom plate covering the main housing, wherein the main housing comprises a first side plate, a second side plate, a third side plate and a fourth side plate, which are connected in sequence to form a hollow housing;
 wherein the notch is arranged in the second side plate along a length direction of the first side plate, and the metallized ceramic is hermetically connected to the main housing through the notch.   
     
     
         6 . The optical module according to  claim 4 , wherein the metallized ceramic comprises a fifth side plate, a sixth side plate and a seventh side plate, two ends of the sixth side plate are respectively connected with the fifth side plate and the seventh side plate, wherein the fifth side plate and the seventh side plate are both arranged at an angle with respect to the sixth side plate; wherein side faces of the fifth side plate, the sixth side plate and the seventh side plate are respectively hermetically connected to side faces of the notch;
 a boss is provided on the sixth side plate, with pins being arranged on the boss.   
     
     
         7 . The optical module according to  claim 1 , wherein the silicon optical chip is connected to the metallized ceramic via gold wire bondings. 
     
     
         8 . The optical module according to  claim 3 , wherein the silicon optical chip is connected to the flexible circuit board via gold wire bondings. 
     
     
         9 . The optical module according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the metallized ceramic is hermetically engaged with the notch;   the semiconductor optical amplification chip is provided in the housing;   the transfer ceramic board is provided in the housing, wherein the semiconductor optical amplification chip is electrically connected to the transfer ceramic board via gold wire bondings, and the transfer ceramic board is electrically connected to the pad via gold wire bondings;   the silicon optical chip is provided in the housing and electrically connected to the pad via gold wire bondings to carry out a wavelength selection for the light of multiple wavelengths, wherein the wavelength-selected light is modulated to obtain signal light of corresponding wavelength.   
     
     
         10 . The optical module according to  claim 9 , wherein a groove is provided on an inner wall of the metallized ceramic, with the pad being arranged on the bottom surface of the groove. 
     
     
         11 . The optical module according to  claim 9 , wherein the light inputting port of the silicon optical chip is arranged in a light emitting direction of the semiconductor optical amplification chip, and there is a preset angle between the optical output port and the light inputting port. 
     
     
         12 . The optical module according to  claim 9 , wherein the semiconductor refrigerator is arranged in the housing, and the semiconductor optical amplification chip, the silicon optical chip and the transfer ceramic plate are all provided on the semiconductor refrigerator.